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Adventures Of Fatherhood

There may be no better indication of a little one’s temperament than the reaction to having to do something he or she doesn’t want to do.

This week I had the pleasure (tongue firmly in cheek) of taking my son Carson for a blood test as well as an immunization. It was all within an hour or so and my little guy amazed me with how he handled it.

A few weeks back, Pam had a similar situation with Beckett, who handled it fairly well but tends to be a bit more theatrical when situations arise that does not involve stuff he considers fun.

I was not present for Beckett’s immunizations, but all I needed to be told was that the “shot nurse” and Pam had to call in enforcements to constrain and that as soon as it was done, he jumped and ran for the door, saying, “get me out of here now.”

That seems consistent with how I expected he would react, although the agitation was dulled somewhat when the nurse told him he was done with shots until he was 11 years. To that, my 4-year-old said, “yeah … how about 13 years old? I love his will to negotiate everything.

With Carson this week, first up was the blood test, which had been worrying for me for some time as Pam had told me how much trouble the nurse had months ago with our little chunky one. The poor kid got poked and jabbed repeatedly as the nurse sought a vein.

Preparing for the worst, and I admit I chewed off some fingernails on the way to Salisbury worrying about what lied ahead, I was thrilled when the particular nurse this week was able to do it in short order. I was equally excited by Carson’s reaction when he was stuck with the needle. Basically, there was not one initially.

Although I tried to distract him with videos on my phone, he wanted no part, watching the nurse attentively and even observing as the needle went through his skin.

Rather than cry in pain or fear, Carson growled the entire time as I bear hugged him to keep him from moving. Surprisingly, he did not try to wiggle free in the least bit.

However, when all was said and done, he did sprint toward the front door with his three stickers in hand and I followed his lead, as I was just as happy to get out of there.

Before I had even left the parking lot, he surprised me again with a direct hit to the back of the head with a balled-up sticker. When I looked back, he had another one cocked and ready to fire but it inadvertently went awry. The other one he had peeled and affixed atop his head, and I watched as he continued to pat it down all the way to our next stop, giggling to himself.

Up next was the pediatrician’s office, where it was immunization time. Though he squirmed some here and there, and I couldn’t blame him, the reaction was much of the same.

The only different was he did let out a brief cry, as the nurse said, “yeah it burns a little,” and then quickly started growling again and that continued until we were driving away.

Carson made me so proud that day and confirmed once again he is one tough little boy who complains about little and is happy doing just about anything.

I am learning a lot from him, and he doesn’t even know it.———————————————-

Beckett doesn’t say it every time one of his parents say “I love you” to him, but he’s beginning to say it more and more and that’s an awesome turn of events.

It’s seldom enough now to melt the heart every time he says it, and there are occasions when it’s particularly memorable.

For instance, the other night after trying to coax him into finally calling it a night, I said “I love you” before heading out of his room. As I was heading downstairs, I heard him say, “I love you too, Daddy.”

That was a great parenting moment.———————————————-

It’s been said never wake a sleeping baby, and these days a new approach I have taken is never disrupt a content child.

For us, the moments when the kids are entertaining themselves are to be cherished, as they are at the age now when they crave and demand attention almost all the time.

That’s why the other morning after they had their breakfasts I could not help by just sit back, read the morning paper (it’s usually read later in the day at work) and enjoy the fact they were content at the kitchen table doing their own things.

While sitting at the kitchen table, Beckett was busy trying to conquer some alphabet games on the iPad, while Carson was playing with some cars and his prized Diego stuffed animal.

I don’t know exactly how long they played peacefully and I wasn’t about to get up and look at the clock at the risk of interrupting their mojo.

No matter how much time went by, I enjoyed each and every minute, as I read the paper and watched them at peace.

It did all come to a screeching halt when Carson decided he had enough and threw both his cars at Beckett, which caused a brief brother-on-brother disturbance.

Albeit a brief few minutes in the morning, and ignoring what transpired between them doing their little spat, those too were some proud parenting moments.